Raycom Media's offer to put viewers first declined by DirecTV

After removing all Raycom Media stations from its lineup, DirecTV
refused to restore the signal for Thursday's NFL game. Raycom opened negotiations, and made an extremely aggressive effort to bring closure to the dispute in the best interests of its viewers. Contrary to what you might hear, DirecTV turned Raycom's offer down.

Rather than allow the stations to be restored pending a temporary resolution, DirecTV chose to keep the stations dark and offer its customers free trials to their premium sports offerings. This comes as no surprise since DirecTV is competing with DISH Network to secure the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket. This negotiation is complicated further by AT&T's pending offer to purchase DirecTV for $49 billion. According to Sports Business Journal, if DirecTV cannot close a deal with the NFL, AT&T has the right to back out of their agreement to purchase DirecTV.

For Raycom, the economic equation is much less complicated. Over the last four years, the fees it pays the major networks to broadcast that content locally has, on average, doubled each year. The fee increase Raycom is asking for would cover DirecTV's fair share of these price increases.

Raycom Media is still trying to negotiate an agreement that would restore its local channels to the DirecTV lineup. It's unfortunate that DirecTV refused our offer. But, we remain hopeful that DirecTV will put their subscribers first and do the right thing, so viewers will see NCAA and NFL games this weekend.

It sounds just like the plot line of a television show- a woman naked and afraid, lost in remote woods. But Lisa Theris’ journey back to civilization was real life and a real struggle that lasted a month in Bullock County.

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